Download - Local SEO Basics
LOCAL SEO
seOverflow
presented by Mike Belasco@belasco
• SEO, Link Building, Social Media Marketing and PPCs in Denver, Colorado.
• Specialize in outsourced work for web designers, marketing consultants, advertising agencies, etc. Always looking for good partners.
• The only company with 2 Local Search Ranking Factors participants. We know Local!
Who Is seOverflow?
• What is Local Search? • Searching For Local
Information• The Challenge of Local
Search• The Algorithms
Today’s Agenda
What is Local Search?
What Exactly is Local Search?
Local Search is any search made with the goal of finding something
in a specific geographic area.
This is known as searching with
local intent.
Local Search = what? + where?
People are searching online forsome thing in some place.
What Exactly is Local Search?
Local expert, Greg Sterling,
defines Local Search as:“seeking information online with
the intention of making a transaction off line”
What Exactly is Local Search?
What Exactly is Local Search?
Essentially, anything that you would traditionally look for in the print
Yellow Pages becomes a Local Search
when it is conducted online.
Nearcasting is when a searcher
is looking for something close to his or her current location.
Farcasting is when a searcher is looking for something elsewhere, often in a place where he or she hopes to be in the future.
Where are the Customers?
Conservative estimate:70%
of all searches are made with local intent.
For some types of business, nearly ALL searches
are made with local intent.73% of online activity is related to local content (Google - May, 2007)
Why is Local Search So Important?
ROBO – Research online, buy offline– 82% of local searchers follow up offline via an in-store visit, phone
call or purchase (TMP / comScore)– 90% of online commercial searches result in offline bricks and
mortar purchases (proprietary research / comScore)– 66% of American use online local search, like Google local search
to locate local businesses (TMP / comScore)– 54% of Americans have substituted the internet and local search
for phone books (comScore networks)– 43% of search engine users are seeking a local merchant to buy
something offline.
http://www.thelocalone.com/why.htm
Why is Local Search So Important?
Where and How People Search for Local Business Information
The searcher decides how and where to search for local information and what
information is important to them.
A local business needs to be in as many of those places as possible with all the
information a prospect may be seeking.
Resources are limited. Research to determine what’s most important for each
niche and each location.
How People Search for Local Info
People search in the regular Search Engines with and
without geographic qualifiers
In Universal Search
People search within the
local search enginesof the big search brands with and
without geographic qualifiers:
Google Maps,Yahoo!Local, Bing Local
In the Big Three Local Search Engines
People search on Superpages, DexKnows,
Yahoo!Yellow Pages, YellowBook, Switchboard, etc.
In the Internet Yellow Pages
On Websites Featuring Local Info:
Local newspapers, Chamber of Commerce, regional tourism site,
Better Business Bureau, local business directories, etc.
Yelp, Merchant Circle, Angie’s List, Topix, CitySearch, InsiderPages, etc.
On Social/Local Websites
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook,
MySpace, etc.
On Social Networking Sites
TrueLocal, Localeze, Local.com, etc.
In Lesser Local Search Engines
Craig’s List
Online newspapers
Niche and local shopping sites.
In Online Classifieds
BedandBreakfast.com, Business.com,
GunDogBreeders.com
In Vertical Directories
Truveo, Planet-Cars, Hotpads, Google Image Search, etc.
In Vertical Search Engines
Consider where most of a business’ potential customers are located and what the company should rank for when working on a Local Search
strategy.
Then, fish where the fish are.
Where are the Customers?
Research to determine the right places to get listed for each niche and location.
– Resources are limited-prioritize submissions.
– Track results. – Devote more attention to what’s working.– Rinse and repeat.
Fish Where the Fish Are
Where you fish may depend on the geographic location.
– Yelp – Northern California– City Search, Superpages – Denver– Kudzu - Atlanta
Fish Where the Fish Are
Where you fish may depend on the type of business
– Trip Advisor - hotels, limos, tours– Zagat’s - Restaurants– Service Magic - Contractors– Superlawyers - Attorneys
Fish Where the Fish Are
Where you fish may depend on the type of customer
– Online yellow pages for seniors– CraigsList for bargain hunters– Topix for news hounds– LinkedIn for B2B
Fish Where the Fish Are
Get in front of more customers more often using Barnacle SEO.
“Barnacle SEO: attaching oneself to a large fixed object and waiting
for the customers to float by in the current.”
Will Scott http://www.localsearchnews.net/local-search-engine-optimization-for-the-sams-club-crowd-with-barnacle-seo/
Barnacle SEO
Use Barnacle SEO to turn competitors into partners.
Examples:
Merchant Circle
Yahoo!Local
Yelp
Insider Pages
Superpages
Barnacle SEO
Use Barnacle SEO on those sites to help you own more real estate in
the SERPs.
They may already rank for what you want to rank for.
They are trusted sites for Local citations.
Barnacle SEO
Point links at your pages on these sites to boost them up in
the SERPs.
This is especially effective with long tail terms.
Research and prioritize for each niche and/or location
Barnacle SEO
– Internet Yellow Pages– Convention & Visitor’s
Bureau– Local/ regional online
newspapers and magazines
– Local business directories
– Chamber of Commerce
Barnacle SEO
– Trade associations– Vertical directories– Local city guides– Locally focused
powerhouses, like Kudzu, CraigsList, etc.
– Better Business Bureau
Where to Attach Yourself:
The Challenge of Local Search
Universal Search is all about relevance to a search query:
– What we say a page is about (page titles, etc.)
– What the Search Engines see that the page is about (content, internal linking)
– What others on the web say the page is about (links, link text)
What’s Different?
Local Search is all about Local business information relevance to a search query:– Location makes you more or less relevant– Factual information – what and where– Customer opinions– Trust in information and opinions
What’s Different?
Rank well in Universal Search
Rank well in the Local 3, 7 & 8 Packs
Rank well in the Local Search Engines
Be on Social Networking Sites
Be in the Internet Yellow Pages
Be on Local/Social web sites
Be in vertical directories and search engines for your industry and location.
The Challenge of Local Search
The Challenge of Local Search
Own the SERPs!
The Algorithms
There are 3 distinct Google algorithms:–Universal Search–Google Maps–The Google 7 Pack
The Algorithms are Different
The Algorithms are Different
Google Universal vs Maps
The Algorithms are Different
Google 7 Pack vs Universal
The Algorithms are Different
Google 7 Pack vs Maps
The 7 Pack algorithm is mostly based on the Maps algorithm, but also has a
layer of the Universal algorithm on top of it.
The Algorithms are Different
The Maps and 7 Pack algorithms give true local
businesses a distinct advantage over directory type
sites, like IYP’s and Yelp, which they do not enjoy in
Universal search.
The Algorithms are Different
The Maps and 7 Pack algorithms are not that great for
– Home based businesses– Business that aren’t in the city they want
to rank for, including service businesses that travel to the customer.
The Algorithms are Different
• Mike Belasco• @belasco• [email protected]• www.seoverflow.com• www.linkedin.com/in/miketheinternetguy• www.facebook.com/seoverflow
Thank You!